Tag Archives: Mammals

Light microscopy: Breakthrough in visualizing synaptic connections in the brain

By | May 8
0 comment
Credits: ISTA

The brain consists of billions of nerve cells. To understand this complex network, it's essential to examine precisely how these nerve cells are arranged and interconnected. "LICONN," a new microscopy method developed by scientists at the Institute of Science and Technology Austria (ISTA) and Google Research, helps to piece together this biological puzzle. The method is based on standard light microscopes and… Read more »

Burrowing mammals have greater chances of survival in bad times

By | March 24, 2025
0 comment
Credits: Beeki, pixabay

Whether vole, fox, or marmot – mammals that burrow or live at least partially underground are particularly well adapted to harsh and highly fluctuating climates. Researchers at Philipps University of Marburg, led by biologists Dr. Stefan Pinkert and Prof. Dr. Nina Farwig, show in a new study that these animals exhibit above-average species diversity in cold, unproductive, and seasonal climates… Read more »

Study: Hibernation developed in evolution independently of the species

By | January 27, 2025
0 comment
Photo: Danielle L. Levesque

An international research team led by Senckenberg scientists Dr. Dimitrios-Georgios Kontopoulos and Prof. Dr. Michael Hiller has investigated the evolutionary development of various types of torpor – the temporary, significant reduction in metabolism and body temperature to conserve energy – in a wide variety of mammals and birds. Their study, now published in the scientific journal "Functional Ecology," shows that this widespread phenomenon in the animal kingdom… Read more »